Want to rent an apartment? You’ll need identification. A valid driver’s license or ID is also typically needed to get a job, apply for benefits or visit the doctor. That can present an obstacle for individuals who’ve been in prison or jail, during which time their IDs were lost or expired.

Starting Monday, Illinois residents without U.S. citizenship can receive a standard driver’s license as part of a new law that aims to reduce instances of discrimination. The standard driver’s license replaces Temporary Visitor Driver’s Licenses, used by more than 300,000 Illinois residents.

Important documents — the volumes of paperwork that go along with buying or selling a home, for example, or granting the power of attorney — require notarization. Under a new initiative announced Wednesday by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, the entire process can now be done remotely.

The cause was an outage in the “national network that connects driver’s license facilities,” a network run by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. That outage resulted in the system having to shut down across the country.

Illinois’ insurance code prohibits discrimination, but state Rep. Will Guzzardi said there’s a difference between impact and intent. Even if insurance agents aren’t doing it maliciously, Guzzardi said, algorithms end up perpetuating inequities and punishing people of color and low-income drivers.

A group of Illinois lawmakers have a proposal that would ban a handful of common additives in food made and sold in Illinois starting in 2027. California last year became the first state to ban the substances that are common in mass-produced and ultra-processed cereals, candies, salad dressings and sodas.

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias says another round of updates should make it easier to book in-person appointments and reduce the number of people who actually need to make those appointments.

Regardless of how long a detainee stays in jail, however, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said a state ID has consistently been at the “top of the list” of needs that those in jail reported to officials upon intake “because it unlocks everything else.”

After a seven-year wait, the state of Illinois will finally begin issuing monarch butterfly specialty license plates, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced Thursday.

Illinois is the only state in the country that has a driving test requirement for people over a certain age. Illinois also requires more frequent driver’s license renewals for people over age 80, something only 23 states require.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C., this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans.

For years, former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White blocked attempts by an ex-state trooper to regain his driving privileges after a high-speed crash that caused the deaths of teenage sisters on a busy St. Clair County interstate in 2007.

Six interagency law enforcement task forces received grant funding this spring to combat car thefts through an initiative of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office.

Starting Sept. 1, 44 driver services facilities in medium- to large-sized cities around the state will require appointments for driver services.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed House Bill 3882, which will phase out the “Temporary Visitor Driver’s License,” or TVDL, which noncitizens currently use to drive legally in Illinois. The new law takes effect July 1, 2024.

The new law declares it to be the policy of Illinois to “encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials.”